


Lost and Found

by Stardust_And_Smoke



Category: Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Hurt No Comfort, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-24 08:32:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17097347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stardust_And_Smoke/pseuds/Stardust_And_Smoke
Summary: Whilst Akiva loses himself to another burst of grief, a door appears not far from the dying fire he is sat by. Marked with a black handprint, it leads to an unknown desert where a girl with blue hair awaits, but their meeting is not one of joy.





	Lost and Found

**Author's Note:**

> Request: Hi ｡◕ ‿ ◕｡ DOSAB: a curious door appears in front of Akiva who lost Madrigal (he's from the past lol) he opens it and finds himself in a strange future in the company of a girl with hair as blue as the deepest parts of the ocean. Basically time-traveling - you decide if Karou already knows him or not. 
> 
> Another request from my Writeblr! Check out statdust-and-smoke to see the other stories I am writing!

_ Beasts Bane.  _

The title brought Akiva no pleasure, only forcing his gut to roll in another motion of disgust. Perhaps this was life's cruel way of punishing him, for not being careful whilst he and his love lay together in the sacred temple, sharing each small part of themselves with the other. But, if this was a punishment, Akiva was dragging out the suffering of the Chimaera, for cheering as she lay on that putrid block. Even after all these years Akiva had found no forgiveness for the race that cheered whilst she died. 

Together they had dreamed of a better life, for a jewel box to finally have its jewel. That dream, their  _ hope _ had ended on the edge of an executioner's axe. 

And what had Akiva done with his life since then? 

His hands gave all the answers anyone could seek. Tally after tally was scored into his skin, leaving black rises to signify each life taken. These marks would be left on him for an eternity, a constant reminder of what he had become. Madrigal surely wouldn't brush her silken lips over his knuckles anymore, forgiveness on her tongue. Akiva was a beast, bred for war and now thats all his life could ever be. 

“There,” Hazael hid the knife away from Akiva's indefinite scowl, “careful there, do not melt my favourite dagger.” No smile, only a grunt of acknowledgement that made Hazael sigh. 

“What?” Akiva glanced to his brother, head tilted ever so slightly to the side. Almost bird-like. 

Mouth drawn into a thin line, resisting a laugh he said, “nothing, I just wish I didn't have  _ two _ Liraz's. You are both insufferable, especially when in a mood.”

Confused, Akiva shrugged, “a mood?”

“Yes,” now perked up, glad to see his brother responding, Hazael probed deeper into his teasing, “staring off into the distance, all stoic as if life is the most mind numbing experience of all.”

“We are in a  _ war _ , Hazael.”

Scratching his jaw, blue eyes deep as the sea and twinkling like gems in the firelight, “and you two must be so cold because of it?”

Sometimes Akiva could tolerate his brothers humour, if he was lucky he could even find a trace of his old laugh, which was slipping away. Tonight was not a night in which he could rise to his brothers comments, not with six more marks across his fingers. “War brings death and misery.”

“Then how am I always so cheerful?”

“I wish I knew, Hazael.” 

That twinkle faded and died in Hazael's eyes. He knew not to press Akiva, that his brother would avoid his questions or simply not answer, but why? What had left him so broken and distorted, compared to the Seraph he was before?  _ What had happened to his brother? _

Lips pursed, he ground out, “Goodnight.”

“Rest well.”

And once again Akiva found himself alone, crouched by the embers of a long-forgotten flame. Though his wings still provided warmth, leaving a gentle glow around his body, keeping him safe from the creeping chill of night. A pang of longing ran up his spine, ending in the palms of his hands, wishing to cradle Madrigal close once more, feathers dancing a trail of warmth up her bare skin.

Alone, Akiva pressed his face into his hands, still no tears fell. Years ago he had run out of tears to shed, each drop being absorbed into the earth as he cut down beast after beast. More marks. More reasons for Madrigal to hate him, like she should have done. That spite could have kept her alive, whilst his corpse would have been abandoned on a beach, blood soaking the sand. 

Instead her light had been struck down, beaten and held bare in a temples grove, locked away in a cell and then severed on the executioner's block. 

He let his head rise, throat tight and heart floundering. All Akiva had left now were memories, clutched close in scarred hands bathed by blood, desperate to stop them from completely slipping away. War kept his mind occupied and he needed rest. To prepare for more planning and killing and marks for his tally. 

But, as Akiva stomped out the last few embers clinging to the charred wood of the campfire, a faint shimmer caught his eye. It was not far away, resting just beyond a cluster of bushes. Swords drawn, Akiva approached whatever was producing this trick of the light, but was not prepared to be faced with a door. 

Shock rippled across Akiva, eyebrows knitting close together in undiluted confusion, sheathing his blades back into their leather bindings on his back. There was a door just…  _ there  _ with rays from the younger moon bathing it in silvery light. It was bare, just a plain wooden door and if Akiva had wondered by it in the slums of the Seraph capital, he would have passed it by. But it  _ wasn't _ in the slums, it was on the edge of a warzone. 

Baffled, he circled around to the opposite side, confusion only running deeper. He was now faced with a scorched handprint, indented into the doors surface, a few wisps of smoke still curling into the night air. 

“Odd…” He muttered, fingers grazing over the black print, before recoiling. Magic resonated from this door, not like the magic of the Chimaera, this was deep, ancient and unpleasant,  _ not of this world _ . Yet Akiva felt a tug to follow this door, to see where it leads. 

And so he opened it, only the Godstars could possibly know why. 

A world was on the other side, rolling heat and endless slopes of burning sand. And a girl, with hair like a river running past her shoulders, blue as lapis. Dark eyes, bordering on black, first shone with surprise before snapping into disgust far faster than Akiva could comprehend. A girl hidden among the desert, away from civilisation, somehow knew Akiva, yet her identity was unknown to him. 

He tried to speak, to reach for the stranger who had already entranced him, but when he tried he was on his back in the sand, her body pinning him down. She was feather-light, slim yet toned and held herself above him with the confidence of a fighter. In truth he could have thrown her off with ease, but he did not wish to escalate the situation. 

“Has my heart not ached over you enough, Akiva?” She spoke in his tongue, the language of Angels, “why are you here? How did you find me?” 

Akiva could not find the right words to explain how he had come here, when he looked the door was gone. “I do not know you.” 

Her face twisted into rage, one born of a grief that he recognised, cream fingers curling against the fighting leathers over his chest. “You think my forgiveness can be won back with ignorance? Your crimes…” strain clipped her voice, ink eyes glassy, “I'll never forget what you did.” 

“Stranger.” Akiva's tan fingers wrapped around her wrist, applying slight force, “I do not know you, nor this world. I do not know how  _ you _ know  _ me _ . All I know is that I followed a door.”

“A… door?” She glanced to the side, searching the air which he had appeared through, possibilities milling through her mind in seconds. “What is the state of the Loramendi?” 

Rage coursed through Akiva in a moment and she did not miss it. There was no regret hidden in his soul, not _yet_ , which meant... Hope flashed alongside steel, a blade kissing his neck, the only coolness he had felt since entering this desert. Akiva wanted to know how she had come about the name of the Cage city, but he couldn't so much as speak with a blade at his throat, already leaving a thin line. 

All he could do was stare up at her, unable to read her face as a curtain of blue hair obscured those inky black eyes, now glazed in pain and indecision. But he could feel the blade quiver against his throat as hesitation kept the stranger locked in place, unable to press forwards. Akiva was reminded of a beach where he lay dying, hidden in the mist, yet  _ she _ had come and her mercy was shining. Though he didn't know it, the girl atop him was remembering it too and damning the love that stilled her hands. 

He stared up, eyes embers in the ashes of an undiscovered love. She stared back, the memories of a doomed romance shedding more tears. 

Then she rolled away, hiding the blade from Akiva's skin and hoping it would never be found there again. No sooner was she off his body, the stranger was in the air and Akiva reached out, grasping her ankle. He ignored the oddness of the fact she could fly. 

“Who are you, stranger?” 

“Someone who loved you. Once, twice but never again.” And though those words raked phantom claws along her heart, she said them before flying back to her sandcastle of monsters. 

Akiva watched as she became a speck on the horizon, not daring to follow. He did not know what he had done, part of him hoped to never know, contemplating all that had happened whilst he kneeled in the sand. The door was still out of sight, but when the moon broke over the land, casting its light onto every corner, it returned. Black handprint and all. 

He walked through, just as dawn broke over Eretz. As the suns light caught the corner of the strange door, it burst into white flame, eaten away until only ash remained. Yet as Akiva stood there, wide-eyed with shock, no heat radiated from the crumbling door. Afterwards, it was nothing more than a distant memory, ash blown away on the wind. 

And high above a star winked out of existence. 

Nearly a decade later, Akiva finally understood what had happened all those years ago. Head pressed into Karou's thigh, what he had done to make her look at him with such disgust was now known to him. And this time he could not play the fool. This time he had to face his punishment, clutched between his fingers in the form of a wishbone. 

_ Someone who loved you. Once, twice, but never again.  _


End file.
